Residents of Longford are playing their part in encouraging understanding of different cultures and in combating racism by welcoming asylum-seekers into their homes.
The Longford Asylum Seekers' Support Group hosted a family exchange day last weekend, with Irish families bringing a family of asylum-seekers living locally into their homes for a meal or a coffee.
It appears the idea was a great success - some of the Irish families have paid a return visit to the asylum-seekers' homes.
The support group hopes to develop the project further and attract more local volunteers to link up with asylum-seekers to provide a support structure for them and to foster understanding of their situation.
Mr Andy Smith of the support group had the house visit idea after he heard Dr Chris Neilson, formerly Nelson Mandela's doctor in South Africa, speak about racism as a guest at an event in Longford some months ago.
There he met some of those already involved in the asylum-seekers' support group and said he would be anxious to get involved. However, he didn't want it to be just an exercise where people got together to "pat each other on the back" - more positive action was called for.
"The fact was, we could see more black people coming into Longford town and I wanted, at some stage, to invite some of the asylum-seekers into my house to find out something about them rather than listening to other people's prejudices. You speak to people who have all sorts of opinions about refugees and when you ask `how many have you met?', they haven't met any."
Some 14 refugee families and 12 Irish families turned up for the inaugural "swap" event last Saturday. They were introduced, before departing for the homes of the Irish people for a few hours. Everyone gathered again later to compare notes and chat about their experiences.
Countries represented in the group included Romania, Ghana, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Angola, Sudan, and Zimbabwe.
"We're already planning to run another day," Mr Smith says. "We would hope to double or even triple the number of Irish families next time." The group would particularly welcome families from rural areas of Longford, who would be prepared to welcome asylum-seekers and to allow them experience a taste of life outside the main cities.
The chairman of the Longford Asylum Seekers' Support Group is Rev Laurence Graham, a Methodist minister, who initially approached asylum-seekers in two hostels in the town. He believed many of them might be interested in joining his church.
Ms Terri McGourty of Longford Community Resources, which is working closely with the support group, says it is hoped to eventually train members of the asylum-seeker community as facilitators to run education courses for other asylum-seekers. Since those in the asylum process are not allowed to work or to participate in training, this option has to be examined closely.
"We feel there are a lot of education gaps there but since asylum-seekers can't have access to education and training, we would like to train people within their own community to teach basic English, IT, communications and perhaps history, because history, on both sides, is very important. This allows them to act within their own communities so they can empower each other as opposed to us empowering them," Ms McGourty says.
"We are taking a very slow approach and a very focused approach and we will liaise with the local authorities, with FAS and with other agencies, so that when asylum-seekers come to us with a query we will have a ready-made database of information."
For most of the asylum-seekers, last Saturday was the first time they had been in an Irish person's home.
Mr Olatunji Awonusi from Nigeria and his wife, Brenda Mzinyati, who is from South Africa, visited Pat and Frank Kenny last Saturday. He moved to Longford about three months ago after a difficult seven months in Dublin, where he was attacked three times on his way to his home in Inchicore. He and his wife have a three-month-old baby, Samuel. He has withdrawn his application for asylum and is seeking residency in Ireland, following the birth of the baby.
"I think Longford is just the perfect place to stay, especially with a baby. The people are warm. We understand it takes time to get used to new people coming into the area and people are cautious - they want to say hello but they don't know how."
A real-estate consultant, Mr Awonusi carried out work for the United Nations in South Africa on a project to integrate white and black youths.
Ms Mary Walsh and her husband, Thomas, welcomed Wette, from Angola, into their home last weekend. The Irish couple have a two-year-old son, the same age as Wette's child. Mary says she was very pleased with how the day went. "We hope this is the start of some sort of relationship."
"We knew there were a lot of asylum-seekers about and we wanted to make them feel supported and less isolated because we know what it's like from the time we worked in Zambia. We will hopefully have Wette back and also hope to keep in touch with her when she has her baby."
Racism has reared its head in Longford, as elsewhere, she fears. She and friends have overheard racist remarks made in the street to asylum-seekers. The support group hopes its efforts will bring such sentiments, even in this fledgling but insidious form, to an end.